Platypus!

It had been a while between platypus so last Saturday night I headed over to Finns Reserve in Templestowe. The footbridge over the Yarra here is a very reliable place to see these little monotreme friends.

the view upstream

I knew the river would be pumping after the crazy rain we'd had so wondered if this might decrease our chances of seeing any platypus. It did not.

Hello!

We'd only been on the bridge for about five minutes when I spotted the first one, and watching over the next 45 minutes determined that there were definitely two and very likely a third.

one of three?

The river was a bit of a lighter colour than usual after the rain so the platypus stood out and were easy to spot when they surfaced. Getting the superzoom onto them and focused before they went under again was another thing.

Bye!

Most of the action was upstream of the bridge, but one drifted under and used a rock and some branches as a bit of a resting place when it needed a scratch.

pretty low light conditions on that side of the bridge, unfortunately for the superzoom

so blurry but so cute!

There were a few water birds also battling the fast-flowing river here and some others around too.

a few Pacific Black Ducks were negotiating the rapids

this Eurasian Coot had a tough time swimming against the flow

and we later saw this Dusky Moorhen carrying nesting materials upstream 

bush birds included a Laughing Kookaburra looking for evening snacks

and there were plenty of Noisy Miners around

While we were on the bridge other platypus-spotters stopped by. Many locals stop to check for them on their walks, and anyone crossing the bridge who doesn't know they're there soon finds out and waits to see one pop up.

platypus-spotting from above

After enjoying the platypus from the bridge, we went for a little walk downstream and followed a small track along the bank where the sun had already disappeared. Amazingly another platypus appeared right in front of us. It was just near the bank and stayed on the surface for a while, allowing very close views.

one last platypus for the evening

A great end to the short but very successful outing!


PS. If you see a platypus, don't forget to submit your sighting to the Australian Platypus Conservancy. They love knowing where these little guys are out and about!